


The Avatar's Love

by LadyAa



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Rangshi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:20:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26021797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAa/pseuds/LadyAa
Summary: Kyoshi and Rangi accepted that they'd have to deal with the struggles that came with their kind of love, but that didn't mean that they'd ever back down.TW // Homophobia
Relationships: Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 140





	The Avatar's Love

**Author's Note:**

> My first action packed fic! Basically Kyoshi & Rangi beating up a bunch of homophobes. Enjoy <3

Rangi strolled through the market with her hands behind her back waiting for Kyoshi to finish a meeting with the elders of the village they were currently in. It was one of the many villages they’d heard from lately that had been having troubles with _daofei_. Rangi usually attended the meetings with Kyoshi, but Kyoshi was asked to be alone in this particular village. She had started with waiting right outside the building, entertaining a game of Pai Sho with Jinpa, but after several losses, she flipped the board over in frustration and decided to take a short walk through the local bazaar as Jinpa shook his head and cleaned up the tiles, refraining from calling her a sore loser. 

She carefully observed the commoners passing her by. She always kept her guard up when involved in political situations like this one. Before with Yun, she would pay close attention to her surroundings and every detail of where they were staying. However, with the one she was protecting now being the love of her life, she made sure to be extra mindful. 

Her eyes wandered to two men in front of her hiding behind the corner of a building, she immediately brought her hands to her sides as she slowed her pace and studied them closely. One had messy hair that stopped right above his defined jawline, and the other had a long braid that reached the small of his back. They both had sweat beads dripping down their faces, and the one with the braid had a busted lip. They seemed to be not too older than she was, maybe in their late-20’s. One of them suddenly moved his hand upward to the other man's hand as they intertwined their fingers, holding each other close. 

Suddenly, a ball of Earth hit them in the back, pushing them to the floor. Immediately following were a group of about half a dozen men, vigorously toppling over the two and instantaneously beating them up. “I thought we told you to keep your perverse habits out of our face!” One of the men screamed. Rangi understood the situation and saw all she needed to see to step in. 

She spouted a fireball at the group and carried an intimidating heat with her as she watched them immediately disperse. She went straight for the two men, who were on the ground, holding each other in fear. It broke her heart to see them like this. She was aware of the Earth Kingdom being violently unaccepting in regards to these affairs, but she’d never experienced it firsthand to this extent. It had mostly been hateful banter or scoffing and joking about it during political meetings and such. All the flashbacks of the fear she lived in when she realized her feelings for Kyoshi came rushing back. She helped them sit up, and asked if they were fine. They both nodded but the one with the messy hair was more hurt than the other. She took a gander over his body and promptly knew he was in dire need of a healer. The other man pulled him in close as Rangi got off her knee and turned to face the bullies head-on. Her brows furrowed and fists tightened. 

“Leave us be. This is none of your concern, _girl_.” One spat and stressed on the word girl as if it was a curse.

“Oh, but it is. It very much is when I witness two innocent men being attacked for no reason other than your sheer ignorance.” Rangi spat. She made sure to keep her words loud and clear as the messy hairs that escaped her topknot floated in the air. “Their personal affairs are none of your concern.”

One of them, which seemed to be the boldest member, let out an evil snicker. “We do not accept their kind in our village. It goes against our customs. And they shall be punished accordingly.” 

Rangi tilted her head. “I do not accept your kind in my presence. And if you don’t leave these men alone and get out of my face, I shall punish you accordingly.” She could feel her body reaching a warmer and warmer temperature out of anger, and she couldn’t stop it from cooling down. Rangi was never the type to sit back when people were in danger, but this strung a more personal string in her heart. She wouldn’t back down now.

The man’s face suddenly went back to an emotionless glare as he brought his fists up. “I don’t want to put my hands on a pretty little foreigner like yourself, but it seems that you’re leaving me with no choice.” 

Rangi was familiar with the type of man that stood in front of her. The type to not back down without a proper beating. She shut her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose, before shooting out a fireball straight at his face.

He quickly shot up a pile of earth to block it just in time, but she was faster. Another fire ball had broken the wall just as it solidified in front of him and sent him falling back. Rangi jumped over the explosion of rock and fire and did a flip before landing perfectly on her feet in front of him. She noticed the others took out weapons and had her surrounded. She shot out fire from all around her with a wave of her arms as they ducked and fell back, several of them getting burnt. 

The Earthbender managed to duck and sack her in the midsection with all the strength of his shoulder, causing her to nearly lose her balance, but all her years of stance training kicked in as she quickly grabbed him and used his body as a center as she spun around it and jumped off his back, turning in the air and shooting a fireball down at him. He barely had the time to dodge as the hair on his head immediately incinerated into ashes. Rangi hid her satisfaction with the fact that he looked like a clown. _Fitting_ , she thought. 

He was beyond angry now. Some of the others were back on their feet and as Rangi shifted her focus to them, he managed to earthbend chunks of earth around Rangi’s fists with his free hand. She immediately heated the earth that engulfed her hands to break it but was kicked in the leg from behind which caused her to fall off balance and lose her focus. The earthbender doubled over her and looked down with pure hatred. “You’re going to pay for that, _girl_.” He said as he grabbed a hold of her topknot and pulled it into his balled fist. Not only did he show disrespect towards her very existence, a major part of her soul which she’d struggled with for years, but he just crudely dishonored her. Rangi deemed him unforgivable in that moment and lost herself to rage.

She immediately brought up the rock that engulfed her hand and used it to strike him in the jaw, freeing her hand from the earth. He fell over beside her and she quickly turned over so she straddled him, she shot out fire so the others would back off, as she began repeatedly knocking his face with the Earth that stuck to her other hand. She kept hitting him, harder and harder, until the rock eventually exploded on his face. He was nearly unconscious, yet she couldn’t make herself stop. This man was the type of man who made her life and the life of others ten times harder for absolutely no reason. She wanted to see him crumble beneath her. She lost herself in her hatred as a sudden, loud yell of another woman managed to snap her out of it. 

“Rangi!” She immediately looked up and saw Kyoshi running towards her. Rangi looked down and saw that his entire face was covered with blood. Before she could react, Kyoshi pulled her off of him and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Rangi, what in the spirits is going on here?” Rangi looked into Kyoshi’s eyes as she managed to catch her breath and bearings. 

***

Kyoshi was too focused on the state of her lover to notice the other men scrambling on their feet to pick up Rangi’s victim and carry him away. “Don’t let them get away,” Rangi breathed out as she tried to pull away from Kyoshi’s grasp, but Kyoshi held her in a tight grip. “Rangi!” Rangi’s eyes were back to normal again. Jinpa ran from behind Kyoshi and checked on the two men who were still sitting in the same spot. “These two need a healer!” He called out as Kyoshi sat Rangi down and kneeled in front of her as she wiped the sweaty strands of hair out of her face. Her topknot was loose and messy from the fight which allowed several more stray hairs than usual. Rangi avoided eye contact as she was doing so. “Wait here,” She said calmly before getting up to heal the other men. She would get back to her firebender right after. 

She went over and kneeled in front of them next to Jinpa as she began working on their wounds. “What happened here?” She asked as she felt Rangi’s seething heat from behind her. The man with the braid spoke up. “My name is Liang. This is my partner, Kun. We were being targeted and attacked by locals when this brave woman came to our rescue.” Kyoshi continued healing as she felt a sense of pride wash over her. Her Rangi, standing up for what was right. She also realized why Rangi was so upset. It had been more personal. 

“Does this happen often?” Kyoshi asked as she focused more on healing Kun, who was nearly unconscious. “Yes,” Replied Liang, he explained how the village shunned him and Kun, and consistently turned a blind eye to this so-called ‘Ryu’ and his men’s assaults. He also explained how much of an impact Rangi defending them will have on the village. It was unheard of in their little village to stand up to attacks on people like Kun, Liang, Rangi, and Kyoshi. Kyoshi understood this since it was pretty much unheard of in the entire Earth Kingdom itself. This is exactly why Kyoshi and Rangi had gotten married in the Fire Nation a few years back, on Rangi’s little island. The Earth Kingdom still refuses to acknowledge Rangi as her wife. She was certain the history books in this nation would document her as nothing more than her bodyguard, and companion of the Avatar, no matter how much she or Jinpa stressed on their romantic relationship. She occasionally entertained the thought of splitting her home away from the nation entirely. Creating her own little island, where she and Rangi could spend their days together, away from everyone’s bull pig.

She healed Liang and Kun enough for them to be able to stand up on their own and go get the rest of their treatment from the local healer. Kun was finally able to speak, “Tough girl, that firebender of yours is.” Kyoshi looked down at him with a slightly shocked expression behind her makeup, but he just smirked up at her. “Please thank her for me.” Kyoshi nodded and let Jinpa escort them to the village’s healer. She smiled to herself at what Kun had told her as she turned back to find her tough firebender. She was nowhere in sight.

Kyoshi frowned and walked across the river that led to their small campsite they had set up during their stay in the village. Usually, they’d stay at inns or occasionally palaces, but since it was such a small and poor village, they had to bring their own accommodations on Yingyong’s back. The sole reason for its poverty was due to _daofei_ constantly terrorizing it and stripping it of its resources. Kyoshi had been in and out of meetings with the village elders in an attempt to figure out how the _daofei_ kept tabs in their village to end it and bring prosperity and justice to the innocent people who resided there. She was in the midst of important business and needed to get back to the others, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to focus with Rangi like this. 

She found the Firebender at their campsite, shooting fire balls into the air for practice. Kyoshi came up from behind her and wrapped the smaller girl in her arms. “You left us earlier.” She muttered into Rangi’s head and waited for the Firebender to relax in her arms like she usually did when Kyoshi held her like this. She didn’t. 

“You let them get away,” Rangi said coldly. Kyoshi turned Rangi around so they were facing each other and grabbed her by the chin to lift her gaze to meet her. “Rangi. You beat their leader to a bloody pulp. Even Kun and Liang were surprised and don’t see Ryu or his men bothering them ever again after what you did. They even mentioned that there’s a strong chance he’ll never show his face in the village ever again.” Kyoshi looked to Rangi’s eyes for approval but didn’t find it. Rangi refused to budge. 

“Kyoshi, you weren’t there. I know the type of men those scum are. I know that what happened today won’t be the end of the way they treat people like us. We can’t turn our backs on those who need us, Kyoshi. Not everyone can protect themselves like we can.” Rangi pleaded and Kyoshi noticed she still hadn’t fixed her topknot. 

They were interrupted by a village elder coming up from behind and clearing his throat. “Avatar, you’re wanted back at the meeting.” He said with a tedious tone as his eyes took in the closeness Kyoshi was portraying with Rangi and wasn't afraid to hide the look of utter judgement on his face. He didn’t say anything, however. Being the Avatar warranted others leaving her personal life alone, but more often than not, Kyoshi was met with unspoken disdain. 

She nodded and turned back to Rangi. “We’ll talk about this later. Okay?” She placed a tiny forehead kiss on the smaller woman and turned to walk back with the elder. She took one last look back at her firebender before they were out of sight and saw that Rangi was watching her walk away with a look of sheer sadness on her face. It broke her heart. 

***

Rangi stayed at the campsite until Jinpa eventually came back with dinner. They ate together and Jinpa eventually called it a night since Kyoshi’s meeting seemed to be still ongoing long past his bedtime. Rangi waited until Jinpa was out cold before she took a stroll into the village. It was dark now, and lanterns filled the empty streets. Occasionally, a couple would stroll by on their way to the only bar in the village which was next to the hall Kyoshi had her meeting in. 

Rangi kept walking until she reached the houses which were more spaced out from the main part of the village. Just as she found the house she thought she was looking for, she felt a twig break from behind her. 

She closed her eyes and forced a smile as she turned to face the noise. “Here for a rematch?” She spoke into the darkness and lit up both hands so her face shown to her enemy. 

Ryu stepped forward from the darkness so she could see his face in the distance. He looked awful. “No.” He said coldly, but then managed an evil, crooked smile. “But they are.”

Before she could process his words, she felt the vibration of Earth from all around her coming her way. She immediately inhaled deeply and sent out white flames from all around her using dragon breath in an attempt to gain light but only saw a split-seconds worth of Earthbenders mid-attack, as well as one waterbender. It was suddenly dark again, but she used the memory of the light to dodge all four attacks. 

Based on their looks, and the fact that they were skilled benders who just randomly showed up, she came to the conclusion that the men attacking her were _daofei_. She needed to get word to Kyoshi that Ryu and his men were the ones affiliated with _daofei_ in the village. _How hypocritical_ , she thought. Attacking two men for loving each other because it supposedly taints the village, yet being the sole reason for the village's downfall by milking it and working with _daofei_. Rangi was beyond disgusted with their breach of honor and wanted nothing more than to end them all.

However, she was vastly outnumbered and needed to play it smart. She sent a fireball flying past the closest house and into the tree that stood beside it. It not only offered a stronger source of light but a call for help. She managed to dodge and attack successfully, yet tried to focus more on defense to prolong a chance for help to arrive. 

She was doing a great job keeping the earthbenders at bay, until the waterbender managed to sneak up on her. She focused on him and kept shooting fireballs at his feet to keep him off balance. She was on a roll until he took the opportunity in the air to forcefully shoot water down at her hands, freezing them upon impact which caused her to fall to the ground, the weight of the ice surrounding her fists pulling her downward. She immediately broke free from the ice using the heat from her fists, but before she could get up the earthbenders used the opportunity to all join together and sink her into the ground. Her entire body under her shoulders was underground, she couldn’t move at all. 

She heard Ryu laughing as he inched closer. “We put the two and two together from your little tantrum earlier today and realized you’re the Avatar’s girl.” He kicked her square in the face. Rangi spit out blood. “These boys here aren’t too fond of the Avatar. And personally, I’m not fond of you. So you could say striking a deal with them earlier was a fair game.” He earthbent tiny rocks at her face that hit her repeatedly until she was swollen and bleeding. Rangi fought everything to try to stay conscious. She wouldn’t accept defeat here and now. “You should have stayed out of our business.” He muttered in a chilling tone. She watched helplessly as he knelt down and grabbed her by her topknot. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he forcefully used his grip to pull her face down as he kneed her so hard she finally gave in and lost consciousness.

***

Kyoshi couldn’t believe what she saw in front of her very eyes. The sight made her blood boil and every single thought process she had running through her mind during her avatar duties come to a full stop. The last time someone had managed to put their hands on Rangi like this was several years ago, and Kyoshi had ended his life merely seconds after. 

Liang had interrupted her meeting earlier by barging in and shouting about _daofei_ looking-men right next to their house fighting the same Firebender who’d saved them. Kyoshi immediately stood up and demanded him to lead her to the scene as quickly as possible. She ran ungracefully for her life until she saw the events fold out in front of her. The last thing she saw was Rangi’s head slumping forward to the ground. That was all she needed to let go of herself and become one with all the previous avatars.

Kyoshi immediately went to Rangi first and Earthbent her out of the ground before carefully slumping her over her shoulder. She then looked up in anger at the _daofei_ surrounding her. Most men cowered in fear at the sight of her spiritual wrath and tried to run away. Kyoshi aimed for them first. She summoned a whirl of wind so large and intense it trapped them all in it and sent them flying viciously in circles of air. Meanwhile, she kicked clumps of earth at the men who dared to try to attack her. She then finally dropped the mini-tornado, allowing the men to aggressively hit the ground and most pass out. She focused fully on the men who were still trying to fight. She began attacking them, not aggressively enough not to kill them but caring none for broken limbs or bloody bruises. Using mainly earth and air to knock them out as Rangi’s arms dangled in front of her. 

In a swift motion, she used Earth to gather all the men in a circle and bind them by their torsos. Once she was sure no one could move, she brought Rangi from her shoulder to her arms. She looked down at her bruised girl and studied her unconscious face. Her face had never been this busted up. Kyoshi could hardly recognize her. Her anger levels rose to a level they hardly ever reached as she looked back up at the men and spoke with the voices of a thousand years coming through her. “You have terrorized this village for years. Stealing its resources and allowing for its innocent civilians to live in scraps as you not only hurt them indirectly but attacked innocent civilians head-on as well. The punishment you will face will be immes-“ She was stopped mid-phrase by a hand grazing her face, and then cupping her cheek. Kyoshi looked down and realized Rangi’s face had teardrops on it. The teardrops that ran from her glowing eyes. They had woken her up. 

Kyoshi’s eyes turned back to a forest green as she looked painfully down at her girl. She knew what needed to be done. “You have also hurt the person I love more than anything in the world.” Her voice was now her own again, but her tone was just as commanding as before. She looked up at them again. “The _woman_ I love more than anything in the world. I will make it very clear around the Earth Kingdom, that if I hear of anyone being terrorized or harassed for who they love, their oppressors and tormentors will be sought out by none other than me.” She felt Rangi’s hand move from her cheek to the back of her neck. Before she could say another word, the wounded woman pulled her down into a wistful kiss. Kyoshi’s heart fluttered as she tried her best not to lose herself and melt into it right in front of the men she’d just threatened. Once Rangi had let her mouth go, Kyoshi murmured against her warm lips. “Your face is all busted up.” Rangi managed a weak laugh. “I don’t care.” Kyoshi frowned. “I do!” But Rangi cared none for her feelings nor her own pain and kissed her again. 

Kyoshi let the others handle the men as she put all her focus on healing Rangi. Liang and Kun opened their house for them, and let Kyoshi use the room with the bed to lay Rangi down on it and begin healing her. “Water, please.” Kyoshi looked up at them with pleading eyes. They both left them alone to get water as Kyoshi looked down at Rangi. She could barely keep her eyes open. She could tell her Firebender was in a lot of pain but was struggling to hide it so Kyoshi wouldn’t worry. 

As soon as Liang and Kun came in with water and rags, Kyoshi got to work. She carefully lifted Rangi’s head up and shifted her body under it to sit cross-legged with her lover’s face directly in view. She let Rangi’s head lay back in her lap as she began healing her upside down features. Hours passed, and Kyoshi saw the sunlight peak from the window. Rangi had fallen asleep hours ago, as Kyoshi stayed up all night, not letting the muscles in her hands relax for the slightest bit. She didn’t mind. It was an honor to be able to gaze down at Rangi’s face all night, even if it was all bruised up. 

By the time Rangi woke up, the swelling was gone. The bruises were still there but not nearly as dark as they had been the night before. She smiled up at Kyoshi's face, bent over her, fixating on working on her, and went up for an upside-down kiss. Kyoshi’s heart leapt as she threw the water back in the bucket and pulled Rangi up so she could hug her from behind. Rangi giggled softly, “You stayed up all night, didn’t you?” 

Kyoshi snuggled her face into her neck and muttered, “Yes.”

Rangi turned so their cheeks were pressed against each other. Kyoshi instantly felt the warmth radiating from her lover’s cheek. “The village elders are going to hate me after this. _That bodyguard of hers, always distracting her from her job!_ ”

Kyoshi shut her eyes, taking in the closeness of her Firebender that she’d been deprived of the past few days in this cursed village. “You’re the one who brought the men hurting this village to justice. _Daofei_ can no longer terrorize or steal resources from innocent villagers again. If anything, they have you to thank.” Kyoshi squeezed her tighter and turned to place a kiss on Rangi’s cheek before murmuring against her skin. “And if they don’t, I’ll take it up with them myself.” Kyoshi meant it. She would make sure that the generations to come would know of her love for Rangi, and how much of an impact her firebender had on her entire life. Despite all odds.

She let go of Rangi and patted her lap. “Now, let's finish you up so I can kiss your face without hurting you.”

**Author's Note:**

> In my head, I imagine the avatar's love playing during that last scene :)


End file.
